Method of tapestry-yarn printing.



No. 817,313. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906. B. H. GLBDHILL. METHOD OF TAPESTRYYARN PRINTING.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 5, 1904.

6 WITNESSES:

Altar nay.

UNITE STATES PATnNr onrron.

BENJAMIN H. GLEDHILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF TAPESTRY-YAPN PRINT] NG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aprll 10, 1906.

Application filed October 5, 1904. Serial No. 227,318.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN I-I. GLED- I-IILL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Methods of Tapestry-Yarn Printing, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the method of printing yarn on drums commonlyknown as tapestry-yarn printing.

The invention consists in forming a skein of yarn of less length thanthe circumference of the printing-drum and providing it with loopedthreads passed through alternate bends at opposite ends and connectingthese loops with a tension device by which the skeln may be applied to aprinting-drum to receive the colors in the selected design or patternpreparatory to weaving the yarn.

One form of apparatus is herein shown by which the invention may bepracticed but it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedto this apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a reel for the preliminary forming of the skein. Fig. 2 isa plan view with a traverse-screw-looper hook for supplying the skeinwith fastening thread loops.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the skein, partly broken away and removed fromthe reel and supplied with the rigid supports. Fig. is a plan View ofthe adjacent ends of the skein as connected upon the printing-drum. Fig.5 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the printing-drum with the skeinapplied in accordance with this invention. Fig. 6 is a sectional detailof the skein-ends-connecting device.

The skein-forming device 1 may be of any approved construction,comprising a single reel or a pair of connected reels. Ad acent theperimeter of the reel is arranged a bear ing 2, having a traverse-screw3, on the end of which is a hook 4. The yarn 5 to be wound in skeins isfurnished by spools or other mediums and is wound around. the reel insufficient quantity to produce askein of the desired length. When thedesired skein is produced, a thread. 6 is laid transversely through thereel under the yarn, and then the traverse-screw is operated so as tocause its hook to pull out the thread 6 in the form of a loop througheach bend in the yarn, as shown at 7 111 Flgs. 2 to 6. When the skein 1ssupphed wlth loops 7 at one polnt, the reel may be turned to bring asubstantially dia1netrically opposite point adjacent the traversescrew,and another thread 6 is introduced and similarly looped through theopposite alternating bends, and then when the skein is removed from thereel and laid out flat it will be found that there are loops 7 in everybend alternating at opposite points or ends of the skein, and thus theyarn in the skein will be laid in pairs of threads, each pair beingsustained by a loop 7 in its bend. Rigid. supports, such as boards orwires or metal strips 8, areintroduced in the loops, and when the skeinwith its loops is laid upon the surface of the printing-dru1n 9 thesesupports 8 are connected by turnbuckles 10, whereby the skein may beapplied to the drum with. any desired degree of tension. When thusapplied, the skein is ready to receive the colors in the ordinary way ofprinting tapestryyarn by means of a printing-drum. It will be observedthat the length of the skein is shorter than the-circumference of theprint ing-drum.

In the ordinary process of tapestry-yarn printing spools containing theyarn are placed 011 pins in front of the printing-drum and the ends ofthe yarn are attached to the drum and. the drum revolved the desirednumber of times to lay the yarn upon it. This method is objectionable,owing to the strain on the threads and speed of the revolution of thedrum. It often occurs that one or more of the threads break and breakseveral times in the operation of winding the yarn upon the drum, andwhen such breaks occur it is difiicult to repair them and to replace theeXact number of broken threads with the same tension as the unbrokenthreads. Further, owing to the fact that the yarn is wound entirelyaround the printing-drum patterns larger or smaller than thecircumference of'the drum cannot be printed on that particular drum, andhence it is necessary to install many sizes of drums to suit the varioussizes of patterns, espe cially in the case of large patterns, such asare required in rugs. Moreover, if a very large-size drum is used toaccommodate a large pattern. then the output or product from oneprinting of a set is often larger than the trade demands for a rug ofone pattern, color, and. size. Again, it is difficult to handle aprinted skein of yarn when printed on the large-size drum withoutsmearing it, owing to its great size and the fact of the color beingwet. Whenever a thus-printed skein is touched before it is steamed,smearing almost invariably occurs. By my invention these objections areobviated, since the skein is wound on a reel with slight tension and thereel being light and easy to handle is readily stopped for repairingbreaks and without material interference with the tension. Moreover, byforming the skein apart from the printing-drum it is possible to make askein of any desired length less than the circumference of the drum, andthis is especially true when a pair of reels is employed and thedistance between the reels is variable. Further, by my invention I canproduce a pattern nearly twice as large as the circumference of thedrum, because the skein can be laid on the surface of the drum even ifit be nearly as large as the circumference of the drum, the threadsbeing in pairs, or, in other words, each thread douled back upon itself.Thus by printing a rug pattern on a small drum from the end of the rugto the center when the skein is o ened out the design is completed,because t e returned ortion of the thread has the duplicate half of thepattern upon it, while in the old method all of the rug pattern mustnecessarily be printed in full. Again, by my invention and thepossibility of printing large patterns on small drums smearing is almostentirely avoided, and, finally, by this invention a large pattern may beproduced with only half the quantity of output and at less than half thecost.

What 1 claim is 1. The improvement in the method of tapestry-yarnprinting, which consists in laying the yarn in a skein composed of pairsof parallel threads, looping connecting threads through the bends of thepairs at opposite ends of the skein, laying the looped skein upon aprinting-drum of greater circumference than the length of the skein andfastening the skein to the drum, and then applying the color in anyusual way.

2. The improvement in the method of tap estry-yarn printing, whichconsists in reeling the yarn to form a skein, looping threads throughthe alternating bends ofv the skein at opposite points thereof,independently supporting the loops, laying the looped skein thus formedupon a printing-drum of greater circumference than the length of theskein, connecting the loops supports under tension so as to hold theskein upon the printingdrum, and then applying color to the yarn in anyusual way.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day ofOctober, A. D1904.

BENJAMIN H, GLEDHILL.

Witnesses:

S. E. CARVER, M. E. CARVER.

